Karma’s Carnival Hot Sauce – A Fiery Circus In Your Mouth

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Karma Sauce Co. has grown rapidly ever since their Extreme Karma sauce was featured on Hot Ones season 5. Since then, the former NASA optical engineer turned hot sauce maker Gene Olczak has pumped out some legendary recipes.

Ever heard of Los Calientes? That was formulated by Gene at Karma. They also have several delicious recipes under their own brand, including Carnival hot sauce (emphasis on the ‘val’).

I think this sauce has an appropriate name. The fun, tropical flavors paired with powerful pepper heat make the experience highly stimulating, much like the thrill of a carnival ride. Carnival hot sauce has a relatively short ingredient list, but the flavor is rich and complex.

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Karma Carnival Hot Sauce Review

Crack open a fresh bottle of Carnival hot sauce and you’re greeted with the aroma of fresh superhot peppers. The reason for this is obvious, as the first ingredients are a blend of yellow superhots: Scotch bonnet, fatalii and moruga scorpion. There’s no wonder this sauce is a solid 4/5 for heat.

Many of the Capsicum chinense (habanero-type) pepper varieties have a citrusy, floral smell when fresh. It is also somewhat fruity, which is why the addition of green mango and lime juice work so well.

Ingredients: Yellow chili peppers (scotch bonnet, fatalii, and yellow moruga scorpion), vinegar (apple cider and white), organic sugar, fresh lime juice, salt, garlic, green mango, thyme.

There are a number of great applications for Carnival hot sauce. I like using it in spicy phở or on rich fried seafood. The lime juice gives it a bright, acidic flavor that brings the pepper flavors to life without too much salt.

The sugar and green mango are where some magic happens, almost fooling you into thinking Carnival isn’t a super-spicy sauce on first taste. Think again!

Everything comes together in a very nice flavorful and super-spicy package. If you can handle high heat, this sauce is a must-try. For this reason, Carnival is among our favorite hot sauces, period.

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Carnival Hot Sauce Scoville & Spiciness

Like many sauces out there, Carnival does not have an official rating on the Scoville scale. However, we have tried many, many hot sauces and can put forward our best guess.

Given the ingredients, we would guess that Carnival hot sauce comes in around 100,000-150,000 SHUs on the Scoville scale. This lands it around the same level of eating a fresh habanero pepper.

The burn from Carnival is long-lasting and even-tempered with a familiar habanero-type sting. Scotch bonnets are known for having a citrusy, tropical flavor and a smooth burn, both of which really shine through in this hot sauce. This one will certainly make you sweat!

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Carnival Hot Sauce Consistency

Gene is known for making sauces on the thicker side. He has yet to make a ‘splashy’ hot sauce, and tends to prefer chunky sauces with some real body. Carnival is thick, but it still it pours well out of the bottle. No smacking the bottle to coax the sauce out.

There are visible seeds and pepper chunks throughout the sauce. This is noticeable when eaten straight off a spoon, and I like it! As a result, Carnival feels more substantial than many hot sauces, with a fresh homemade character.

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Where To Buy Carnival Hot Sauce

At the time of writing this, Carnival hot sauce is available on Amazon. We’ve found this to be the cheapest way to access the sauce, given that most other sites will charge extra for shipping.

You can also shop directly on the Karma Sauce website if you prefer to order from the source and support Karma directly!

Karma Sauce Co. is quickly becoming a favorite sauce maker in our (ever growing) collection. Carnival hot sauce is a fantastic take on scotch bonnets and other hot peppers and deserves a spot in your fridge. If you like it super spicy with a tropical flair, Carnival is well worth the price!

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